And the hadith of Amr ibn Shu'ayb, that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) continued to ward off the animal until he reached the wall (25). Also the hadith of Abu Sa'id [regarding the command] (26) to repel anyone passing in front of the one praying, and to fight them if they refuse to turn back (27). All of this and its likes are permissible during prayer and do not invalidate it. Even if he were to do this without a need, it would be disliked, yet it would still not invalidate it. There is no specific limit for what is permissible in this regard, neither three nor any other number, because the Prophet's (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) action evidently shows exceeding (28) three, such as his moving backward until the men moved backward and reached the women, and his carrying of Umama and placing her down in every rak'ah; this usually exceeds three actions, as does the walking of Abu Barza with his riding animal. Moreover, because the nature of [legal] specification is based on textual evidence (tawqif), and there is no such specification here; rather, one refers in matters of "much" or "little" to custom ('urf), concerning what is considered much or little. Everything that resembles the action of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is counted as "little." If he performs scattered actions that would be "much" if combined, but each one individually is "little," then they fall under the limit of "little," evidenced by the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) carrying Umama in every rak'ah and setting her down. Whatever is excessive and exceeds the action of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) invalidates the prayer, whether it was for a need or otherwise, unless it is for an emergency, in which case its ruling is the same as the ruling of the one who fears, and thus his prayer is not invalidated by it. If he needs to perform many actions in the prayer for something other than an emergency, he should cut the prayer short and perform the action. Ahmad said: If he sees two boys fighting and fears one of them might throw the other into a well, he should go to them to save them, and then return to his prayer. He also said: If a man is being pursued by someone and enters the mosque while the prayer has been established, and when the Imam prostrates, the pursued person leaves, then the one who was pursuing him (29) should leave to go after him. Meaning: and [then] he starts the prayer [anew]. The same applies if he sees a fire he wishes to extinguish, or a drowning person he wishes to save; he should go out to them and start the prayer [anew]. If the fire or the flood reaches him while he is in prayer, and he flees from it, he may continue his prayer and complete it as the prayer of a fearful person, based on what we mentioned earlier, and Allah knows best.

265 - Issue: He said: (And nothing invalidates the prayer except for the solid black dog (1)).

Meaning if it passes in front of him. This is the well-known position of Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, as narrated from him by the group. Al-Athram said: Abu Abdullah was asked: "What invalidates the prayer?" He said: "In my view, nothing invalidates it except for the solid black dog." This is the view of Aisha (2), and it is also narrated from Tawus. It is narrated (3) from Mu'adh and Mujahid that they both said: "The solid black dog is a devil, and it invalidates the prayer." The meaning of "bahim" (solid/plain) is that which has no color in it other than black. There is another narration from Ahmad that it is invalidated by the black dog, a woman if she passes by, and a donkey. He said: And as for the hadith of Aisha (4), some people said: It is not an argument for this; because the passerby is not a stayer, and it was in a voluntary prayer, which is lighter [than the obligatory one], and the obligatory prayer is more emphatic. As for the hadith of Ibn Abbas: "I passed in front of a part of the row (6)," it is not an argument; because the sutrah of the Imam is a sutrah for those behind him. This view was narrated from Anas, Ikrimah, al-Hasan, and Abu al-Ahwas (7). The basis for this view is what Abu Hurayra narrated, saying: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "The prayer is invalidated by the woman, the donkey..."